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General chemistry are key gateway courses for many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. To improve student outcomes, it is critical both to identify at-risk students and implement evidence-based instructional strategies and interventions. These remain active areas of investigation, with recent literature showing that cognitive, affective and demographic characteristics all contribute as risk factors. Here we report an assessment of demographic characteristics and early-course cognitive measures in predicting student outcomes in first-term general chemistry (GC1), comparing an adaptive learning pre-assessment using ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) with a traditional diagnostic exam. Student performance was evaluated across three sections (345 students) in a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design using a common ACS final exam. We find that ~57% of variance in ACS final exam scores and ~60% of variance in final course grades is related to three predictors: initial ALEKS knowledge check, diagnostic exam score, and predicted first year QPA, an internal metric based upon high school GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and college of admission. While no single metric could identify even one-half of students scoring lowest in the course (i.e. in the bottom 15%, consistent with the percentage of D's, F's and withdrawals in our sections), in combination ~ 80% were identified.

Porous polymers have joined the ranks of light-activated catalysts that split water into hydrogen, a carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels. Their properties are easily tuned--a big plus for the development [...]

We review the literature on the nexus between entrepreneurship and economic growth and investigate the reasons for its inconclusive early findings. We trace them to the evolution of nations from the managed economies to the entrepreneurial economies and various discrepancies, both in the proxies used to measure entrepreneurship as well as in the settings within which this relationship has been explored. We also find that notwithstanding the continued assertion of a lack of empirical evidence on entrepreneurship-led economic growth, post-2004 research on the theme has fairly conclusively established the positivity of this relationship in the developed world and the persisting debate on this issue reflects just a lack of its awareness. We provide a synthesis of findings of the most recent research, discuss the unresolved issues, point to future research directions and analyse the implications of our findings for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the initial and long-term performance of private equity (PE) backed initial public offerings (IPOs) in India. Using the data of IPOs listed on the Bombay stock exchange from 2009 to 2012, the authors investigate the initial performance of the IPO on listing day for both PE equity backed IPOs and non-PE backed IPOs and documented that PE backed IPOs show less underpricing than non-PE backed IPOs. Then, they compared the long-term performance of PE and non-PE backed IPOs for two years post-listing and documented less underperformance of PE backed IPOs compared with non-PE backed IPOs. Finally, the authors confirmed "fads" in Indian IPOs market but also recorded that the degree of fads was less in PE backed IPOs than in non-PE backed IPOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major part of the income is earned through fund based activities. At the same time, it involves a large share of expenditure also in the form of interest and brokerage. In recent times, a number of banks have started accepting deposits by offering a very high rate of interest. When the cost of deposit resources go up, the lending rate also should go up. It means that such banks have to compromise the quality of its investments. A fee based income, on the other hand, does not involve much risk. But it requires a lot of expertise on the part of a bank to offer such services. In the face of declining net interest margins, depository institutions have entered new product areas over the ancient times, moving from traditional lending to Areas that generate Non-fund Based Income. The change is of importance for financial control. The more unbalanced is a bank's earnings stream, the more unsafe the institution is. The traditional wisdom in the banking industry is that earnings from fund-based products are steadier than loan-based earnings and those fund-based activities lessen bank risk via diversifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]